*** PLEASE CLICK ON THE PHOTO OF ME UP IN THE TREE ***

I have very fond memories of my days as a Boy Scout in New York City in the early 1940's. My troop was part of the Kips Bay Boy's Club. I was the only Chinese boy in my troop. I felt embarrassed that I did not understand much English, but all the other boys were very nice to me anyway. Rich boys, poor boys, it didn't matter ... we all had fun together.

My scoutmaster, Mr. Harold K. Whitford, was from England. He was especially kind to me -- he patiently taught me English and helped me make American friends. Sixty years later, I still clearly remember that in the summertime, he always wore a blue seersucker jacket and white linen pants that he would bring to my father's laundry shop, the Lee Fong Laundry at 200 East 50th Street.

I was quite agile as a boy and was a fearless climber. Mr. Whitford recognized my climbing ability. Whenever Lincoln's Birthday rolled around, he arranged for newspaper photographers from the Mirror and the New York Daily News to take a picture of me in my Boy Scout uniform -- posing on top of Lincoln's statue in Union Square Park. He was very liberal, and was proud to have a Chinese boy in his troop.

One of my favorite field trips was taking the Eighth Avenue subway up to 181st Street in upper Manhattan. From there, we walked across the George Washington Bridge to Fort Lee, New Jersey to set up a campfire. (Fort Lee is now a busy residential shopping area, but back then, it was quite rural.) To earn my cooking badge, I made a fire (the easy way, with a match) and heated up a can of soup. Well, what do you expect from a Tenderfoot?

Unfortunately, I didn't have the opportunity to rise up in the Boy Scout ranks. I entered as a Tenderfoot and left as a Tenderfoot. My older brother was drafted into World War II and my mother passed away in China, so I had to help out at my father's laundry every day after school. Life was very hard for us, but I never lost my optimism that things would get better someday.